I was under the weather for a few days last week and had some down time to catch a few shows on the Food Network.

I must say that the look of a chef sure is changing. Yes, I know I’m old fashioned, but what happened to the required clean look in restaurant staff? Piercings in places on the face that just look painful, large discs that have the ear lobes stretched to an unnatural size, hair spiked every which way but the way it actually grows and, well, I won’t even go there with the tattoos. I understand these trends are stylish and a perfectly natural means of self expression, but well, old people like me are confused by this new look on the people who cook our food.

In an industry that is controlled by a set of health codes the size of a small novel, with rules that forbid any ring other than a plain wedding band and watches, requires covered hair, and the wearing of beard masks for beards or mustaches over ½-inch long, where do these new looks fit in? I foresee another 20 pages of regulations being drawn up by health regulators every time they watch one of these cooking shows.

To be good in food service, in my humble opinion, requires a servant heart. I opened my business because I love to feed people and I tell my employees on a regular basis that we are here to “serve” and to “cater” to our customers. It doesn’t matter how good your food is if your service is bad, your customers will not return. I would question how servant oriented a person is that feels he/she has the right to express themselves by altering their body in such drastic ways. Is it about the customer or about them?

After watching these shows I often find myself wanting to run to the kitchen and cook — old food. It is a place of comfort and security for me. My grandmother wore a dress with an apron in the kitchen up until the last couple of years of her life when Mama and Aunt Jenny convinced her to try a pants suit — much against her better judgment. My Mama still won’t wear shorts to the grocery store and rarely do you find her cooking in the kitchen without her makeup.

Perhaps that is what I fear is missing in these outlandishly adorned men and women. Memories, heritage and a well-grounded love of the food they grew up on. Where is their foundation? We all had to start at some point enjoying food and desiring to replicate the foods we liked. From that foundation we grow, try new things and expand our culinary skills, and, when all else fails, we return to our foundational foods and skills.

The young cooks of today seem to be rebelling against their foundation in their self expression and not really caring what their customers think — or even their grandmas. My grandma wouldn’t have allowed me in her kitchen with earrings hanging out my lip!

OK, I am braced for the flood of dirty letters about my narrow-mindedness, but, like I said earlier, I’m just old fashioned. I know it and I admit it. Forgive this old woman’s rambling. I like being old fashioned and, some day these young budding chefs will be old, too, and will probably write long articles about how brazen this new generation of chefs is and ponder the future of our industry.

One of my “old” foods that I like to cook is corn fritters. Nothing fancy about them, they are simple and delicious. Mama usually cooked them on Sundays. She didn’t have a recipe. She just put some flour, milk and egg in a bowl, stirred in the corn and fried them up. I searched long and hard for a recipe to replicate hers, but nothing can touch Mama’s. I found one close and have adapted it to my corn fritter recipe. My children love them. I have incorporated Steve’s memory of corn fritters and now serve them with syrup for dipping.

Teri Bell is co-owner of Miss Sophie’s Marketplace at the Mighty Eighth in Pooler. Go to sophiesmarketplace.com.

CORN FRITTERS

3 cups vegetable oil

1 cup self rising flour

1/4 teaspoon white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup fresh corn kernels or 1 cup frozen sweet corn

1. Heat oil in an electric skillet or heavy pot to 375 degrees.

2. Combine flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat together egg, milk, and vegetable oil in a separate bowl. Add to flour mixture and mix well. Stir in corn kernels.

3. Drop fritter batter by teaspoonfuls into the hot oil, and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels.